At around 11:30, local DJ/producer Harrison took the stage. With a newly nurtured Tom Selleck mustache, Harrison looked like a whole new man – far past that kid who played 1 pm shows at local summer festivals to gain recognition. Some of his success might be attributed to the people he’s been working with (i.e. Ryan Hemsworth); however, most of it is due to his growing talent and skill.

Harrison’s recently released original album, Checkpoint Titanium, is a keeper. The kind you’d play during sexy times, at a house party, maybe even to your mother. While it lacks not in variety, it comes together in complete cohesiveness. Knowing this, one would’ve expected a killer set – especially knowing it was a cherished warmup for Romare.

Harrison calmly played through his DJ set for a bit over an hour, going through his favorites and classic top 40 – “Crazy In Love” by Harrison? Why not! The complete set, however, lacked a bit of love and enthusiasm; messy transitions and choppy cut-throughs made this a less-than-best performance.

Romare nonchalantly set up while Harrison was wrapping up. The two exchanged a brief conversation and friendly hug as Fairhurst combed through his box of vinyl in preparation.

After a brief lyrical intro track, Romare dove right into “Work Song” from Projections. The crowd immediately went wild. Having already been going for an hour, the audience was fully warmed, dancing and sharing moves with one another. Sipping on his Canada Dry, Fairhurst played out tracks from his recent couple albums Projections and Love Songs: Part Two, from “Nina’s Charm” to “Who Loves You?“.

The set came together into a vivid and engaging performance. Not at all fazed by the impeding cold weather outside, the audience embraced every string of disco and every song. This was a modern disco at its best and the crowd loved it!

photos by Matt Stratton

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Last weekend, the Secret Songs tour, hosted by Ryan Hemsworth, took over Toronto’s Hoxton. Joined by another local rising star, Harrison and Montreal sensation RYAN Playground, the Canadian trio played their last show of the tour.

Harrison started the night off with a good mix of rap and trap music and it was evident that musically, Harrison has significantly grown over the last year. Creatively, Harrison is taking more chances while aesthetically, his set had a great flow. Harrison really connected with the crowd and could sense what they needed from him, though the cutout faces in the crowd were ready for pretty much anything! Working closely with Hemsworth has clearly been an interesting and promising influence.

Shortly after Harrison, RYAN Playground took the stage next. Opening up strong with “Bitch Better Have My Money,” Playground got the crowd hyped with her mix of rap and electronica. Subtly mixing in Drake for the home crowd, and also throwing in a little more trance and drum and bass to achieve that dark-twisty vibe that Playground always offers, this set got pretty heavy closer to the end.

Closing out the evening, Ryan Hemsworth packed the crowd in closer to the stage. The set was a mix of his original tracks and Hemsworth-flavored hip-hop remixes coming together into a rainbow of good tunes. Hemsworth has a signature sound, sometimes it’s a little bit sad, but mostly it’s happy and at times a little bit rude, but the kind of rude that you are to your BFF. It’s a signature sound that undoubtedly rubbed on Harrison, but we ain’t mad.

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You’ve seen nothing until you’ve seen Elmo get low with a bunch of dudes in neon tanks and “Billionaire Boys Club” t-shits. Everyone was keeping it 100%, even Minnie Mouse got moves and the cotton candy sugar rush was only fueling the celebratory hype.

The stage was tucked away at the back of the yard under trees and you had to find odd corners around the space to be able to see the DJs through the blinding sun. Every now and then you’d spot an occasional body facing the wrong way while hundreds of people are throwing shapes, tossing vocal compliments towards the stage.

The day started off with Toronto’s local Harrison who has been making appearances around various major festivals across the city all summer. Though humble in appearance Harrison always delivers an upbeat set to get the party started. Tennyson, a brother-sister duo from Edmonton, are another two kids on the scene worth paying attention to. Making soft, glitchy electronic beats with a variety of drums, Luke Tennyson and Tess Pretty came together as a perfect soundtrack to melting crushed blue ice.

Ganz had trouble at the border and could not make his set but Tom Wrecks, one half of Thugli, stepped in for a respectable nearly hour-and-a-half-long performance. Playing classics from the Thugli repertoire and club heavy hitters from Ludacris’ “Move Bitch” and Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money” to Jamie XX’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)”, Wrecks got everyone dancing.

Flat White was also delayed but was welcomed on stage with an epic introduction by Jr. Flo and David Matisse who then stepped off the stage to wander around talk to party guests. For the first little while Flat White seemed a bit out of his element but once he got going with the crowd’s favorites from Drake’s “Energy” to a James Blake throwback the set came together into a solid performance.

Just Blaze stepped in right after dropping faster, more energetic trap-heavy tracks getting the crowd worked up for the final performance of the day. The Keys N Krates chant happened earlier in the day but things did not get real till the birthday crew took the stage. Light. Them. UP!

KNK clearly likes birthday parties. We like birthday parties. You definitely liked this birthday party. Let’s do another one next year, same time, same place, same creepy Elmo.

See more photos from the KnK Birthday Party here.

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